The Relentless School Nurse: Notes from the 2018 ACEs Conference

I am sharing the notes I took during the ACEs Conference because this snapshot of the collective wisdom of this event is meant to be shared. I urge my colleagues and readers of this blog to learn more about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and join in this work. Please reach out to me if you have questions or want ideas about where to begin. Once you begin to delve in the science of this work, a spark will be lit and you will see the world through a much different lens. One of social justice, prevention, equity, and advocacy. Our children’s future depends on a collective energy igniting a dramatic shift in how we define health and well-being.

ACEs is a social justice issue

We do this work because it is personal

We are building the ship as we are sailing it

Manage through trust rather than control

We live what we know – we have to change that paradigm if it is an adversity lens

Build a culture of love, hope and caring

Read “More Than a Bird” by Liz Huntley

There is power to the buffering effect of a nurturing environment = hope

Change the questions we ask: It’s not what’s happened to you, it’s what do you dream?

The way toxic stress is responded to in this country is deeply impacted by race.

We must be our best selves to best serve

Mitigate the harms and amplify the strengths

Our ACEs can be our superpowers – the fight or flight response is designed to give us an adaptive advantage

Talk about High Return vs High Risk

Language is so important

“I don’t want people to meet me where I am, I want them to meet me where I dream”

One system of support across many directions is key to collaborating and ending silos

Create an eco-system of support

Look at results-based accountability

Read about the Theory of Aligned Contribution

Read about Developmental Repair – Anne Garrity

Mission – Growing Great People

If you attended the conference and are reading this on ACEs connection, please let me know. Feel free to add to the list. Let’s create a shared document that archives the notes that each of us took. What messages resonated with you so strongly that you took a moment to write it down? I would love to read what others found to be helpful, hopeful and memorable.

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Published by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN

Robin Cogan MEd, RN, NCSN is a Nationally Certified School Nurse, currently completing her 17th year in the Camden City School District. Robin holds leadership positions on the New Jersey State School Nurses Association Executive Board as well as with the NJ Department of Education Preschool Nurse Advisory Board. She has been recognized locally and nationally for her community-based work, including the 2017 Johnson & Johnson School Nurse of the Year and the NJ Department of Health 2017 Population Health Hero Award. Robin serves as Faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers-Camden School of Nursing where she teaches the next generation of school nurses.
View all posts by Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN